Fully-Aligned Organization: Key to Success in Pharma By Jim Brigaitis, Associate Managing Director

The pharmaceutical industry is facing unprecedented challenges and transformation. A number of the largest drug classes are going generic. Sales of multi-billion dollar blockbuster agents such as statins, anti-depressants, anti-hypertensives and other widely prescribed drugs are evaporating. Many of these drugs were so effective that the prospect of replacing them simply by introducing a new generation of branded agents is unlikely.

What's more, the industry is facing continued increases in cost and pricing pressures, coupled with the onslaught of generic drugs. Payers are demanding greater value for their money. Products that fail to deliver are being relegated to severe restrictions or receive no reimbursement at all.

In the last Rak Report, we discussed the need to develop a clear understanding of the drivers of customer behavior to succeed in this challenging environment. Once behaviors are well-understood, it is essential to enlist the full support and alignment of all critical functions throughout the organization.

A Market Map can be a unifying device for your organization. This device defines the landscape of the market your product competes in, and is based on actual customer usage and purchase behavior. Market Maps are based on irrefutable information – the actual behavior of customers – and show the true competitive frame for your product. The map serves as the basis for how the market exists today, but can also be used to create a vision of how you want to transform the market. This vision of the future for your product, rooted in customer behavior, will provide the entire organization with a clear picture of where you want to go.

Once the vision of the future is established, another priority for marketing is to partner effectively with all relevant functions in both the development and execution of the strategy that fulfills the vision. Introducing transformational products and redefining treatment paradigms require the coordinated efforts of all functions: marketing, analytics, sales, medical, regulatory, legal, and others. If one piece of the puzzle is missing, it all falls apart.

Key considerations that require multifunctional involvement are:

• Cross Functional Interdependencies For example, medical must generate specific clinical data in a timely fashion to obtain desired labeling which in turn enables appropriate detailing messages.
• Medical feasibility Is your marketing strategy and desired product profile medically feasible? Does it require major changes in medical practice? What sales and marketing efforts will be required?
• Regulatory Requirements What is the desired labeling to support the marketing strategy? What data must medical generate to support the labeling.
• Expected Return on Key Investments Risks, probability of success, timing, and trade-offs must be assessed by all functions to choose the optimal strategy and investments.

Marketing can develop the most elegant visions, strategies, promotional plans or sales forecasts. But the strategy won't work if they haven't partnered with all of the other relevant functions.

For the organizations whose functions are well aligned and coordinated, tremendous success can be achieved. New products can transform markets and bring tremendous value to customers and the organizations themselves. The key is starting with a behaviorally-based vision of the future and aligning the organization to the bright future that lies ahead.